Angular wrench head having upwardly opening socket



Nov. 6, 1956 w. w. COTTRELL `Er A1. 2,769,360

ANGULAR WRENCH HEAD HAVING UPWARDLY OPENING SOCKET Filed sept. 10, 1954-WA Y/vf W. 607725 JNVENTOR.

Afro/amers Patented Nov. 6, 1956 ANGULAR WRENCH HEAD HAVING UPWARDLYOPENING SOCKET Wayne Woodford Cottrell, Torrance, and Edwin Ef Thisinvention relates to an improved socket wrench of the double ended typewherein the handle portion between the sockets or socket heads isangulated relative to the heads and the heads are in parallel planes.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a Wrench of thecharacter indicated above whose handle portion and whose socket headsare of minimal cross section so as to permit reaching into and operatingin conlined and ditticult to reach places, for tightening and looseningnuts on studs, as in the assembling and servicing of aircraft.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a wrenchof the character indicated above which has means in its socket heads forholding nuts in the heads while being handled and while being applied toor removed from studs, the said means providing free passage for studsreaching beyond the nuts.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a moreeflicient and practical wrench of the character indicated above whichcan be made in a rugged, serviceable and attractive form at relativelylow cost.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention willbe apparent from the following description and the accompanyingdrawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specicembodiment of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, parts being broken away.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a left-hand end elevation of Figure l, parts being brokenaway, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of another embodiment having atwelve point socket instead of a hexagonal socket.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designatelike parts throughout the several views, and first to Figures 1 to 3thereof, the wrench therein illustrated and generally designated 5,comprises a straight, preferably solid bar stock handle portion 6,having straight at parallel upper and lower surfaces 7 and 8,respectively, and straight parallel side edges 9, 9 which are rounded,as indicated at 10 and 11, where the side edges merge into the upper andlower surfaces 7 and 8, respectively.

The opposite ends of the handle portion 5 terminate in elongated socketheads 12 and 13, which are straight and of the same cross section as thehandle portion 6, but are angulated at 45 relative to the handle portion6 so that the heads extend in directions parallel to each other.

The socket heads 12 and 13 have inward ends 14 and 15, respectively,where they join the handle portion 6, and outer ends 16 and 17,respectively, which are semicircular in plan, the outer semicylindricalsurfaces of which are disposed at right angles to the longitudinalplanes of the heads.

The socket heads 12 and 13 have at upper sides 18 and 19, respectively,and at undersides 20 and 21, respectively, the upper and lower sidesbeing parallel to each other.

In the heads 12 and 13, which have parallel sides 22, 22, are formedsimilar sockets 23 of hexagonal shape which open through the upper sides18 and 19 of the heads. The sockets 23 are located as close to thesemicircular head ends 16 and 17 as feasible, and the walls of thesockets 23 are as thin as feasible. Because of these arrangements, theheads 12 and 13 can be inserted in spaces not substantially larger thanthe nuts to be turned.

Since the sockets 23 open through the upper sides 18 and 19 of the heads12 and 13, respectively, the wrench 5 can be applied either to dependingbolt heads or to nuts on depending studs of an assembly withoutreversing the wrench.

As apparent in Figures 1 and 3, the socket heads 12 and 13 are slightlythicker than the depth of the sockets 23 so as to provide retainingwalls 24 and 25, at the under sides of the sockets 23, which serve toretain or hold nuts in the sockets while being carried to or away fromoverlying studs and while being applied to or removed from suchoverlying studs, the retaining walls being as thin as feasible.

In each of the retaining walls there are provided central holes 26 and27, respectively, which are provided to freely pass studs which mayproject beyond a nut while the wrench is engaged with a nut.

In a wrench in accordance with the present invention for turningthree-eights inch nuts, the side Walls of the heads 12 and 13 around thesockets 23 will be approximately one-sixteenth of an inch thick.

In Figure 4 of the drawings is illustrated a socket 23a having twelvepoints 28a instead of six points 28 in the form of the invention shownin Figures 1 to 3, both wrenches 5 and 5a being otherwise similar.

What is claimed is:

1. In a Wrench, a straight handle portion having parallel side edges andupper and lower sides, an elongated socket head on an end of said handleportion, said head being a continuation of said handle portion and beingof similar external size and dimensions as said handle portion, saidhead being angulated relative to said handle portion away from the lowerside of the handle portion, said head having an upper side, a nut socketin said head having an open end opening through the upper side of thehead, said head having an underside, and a retaining wall partly closingthe other end of the socket.

2. In a wrench, a straight handle portion having parallel side edges andupper and lower surfaces, said handle terminating at one end in anelongated socket head, said head being a continuation of said handleportion and being of the same transverse dimensions as the handleportion, said head being angulated relative to said handle portiontoward the upper surface of the handle portion, said head having anupper side, a nut socket in said head having an open end opening throughthe upper side of the head, said head having an underside, and aretaining wall partly closing the other end of the socket, said headhaving a terminal end, said terminal end having a semicylindricalperiphery and said socket being concentric to and located close to saidterminal end, said head having parallel sides and said socket beinglocated close to said opposite sides and deiining socket walls ofminimal thickness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.120,555 Musselman May 14, 1940 1,072,479 Martindale Sept. 9, 19131,384,655 Allmon July 12, 1921 1,424,069 Blackmar July 25, 19221,641,252 Dickey Sept. 6, 1927 1,830,143 Taylor Nov. 3, 1931 2,358,555Blanchard Sept. 19, 1944 2,659,258 Dillard Nov. 17, 1953

